Cooking aid

ABSTRACT

A cooking aid comprising a sheet of flexible burn resistant material and a composition disposed on one face of the sheet, the composition comprising a mixture of vegetable or animal oil with a melting point below 20° C., vegetable or animal fat with a melting point above 20° C., and one or more herbs, spices and flavor enhancers.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is a National Stage of International ApplicationNo. PCT/EP2011/060990, filed on Jun. 30, 2011, which claims priority toInternational Application No. PCT/EP2010/061385, filed Aug. 5, 2010, theentire contents of which are being incorporated herein by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The invention relates to a cooking aid and to the use of the cooking aidfor cooking food. The cooking aid is an assembly comprising a sheet offlexible burn resistant material such as a baking paper, or similarmaterial, and a composition of a fat and oil blend together with herbs,spices and flavour agents.

BACKGROUND

Meat and many other foods are traditionally cooked in an oven or a pan,and often with various condiments and flavour enhancing agents toprovide a tasty and appealing flavoursome cooked dish. It is well knownthat cooking meat can lead to a certain amount of messiness of the ovenor pan and surrounding surfaces. The degree of mess that needs to becleaned up post-cooking can vary markedly depending on the nature of thefood being cooked, the temperature of cooking, and other factors. It iscommonplace for the walls of the oven or the surfaces surrounding anopen cooking pan to become splattered and stained with fat and oil, andcooking juices, etc. Cooking meat normally requires a considerableamount of cleaning of surfaces after the cooking process.

There is an increasing demand for food preparation in the home to befast and convenient, and with a minimum of clean-up required aftercooking.

It is also important to be able to flavour the food being cooked withherbs, spices and other flavouring agents. Such ingredients can be addedbefore or during cooking. They can be added individually or as a mix,but care must be taken to add the right amounts of each to give thedesired flavour of cooked food. Sometimes when adding spices to meatthat is being cooked or about to be cooked (e.g. by sprinkling on themeat), it is easy to add too much or too little or to add too much insome places and none in other places.

Simple cooking techniques have been developed over many years attemptingto address these needs, with some success. But the typical home cookcontinues to search for an easy and convenient way of cooking meat andvegetables cleanly and with added flavourings and garnishes.

U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/890,947 (published as US2005-0013951) describes a packaging material for a cook-in food packageformed from an aluminium foil sheet for providing uniform heatdistribution, and a paper sheet for direct contact with the food and forproviding a non-stick surface.

DE 2900195 describes an insert for a frying pan which requires no oil orfat for the frying of meat. The insert consists of a disc having adiameter slightly larger than the bottom of the frying pan, and is madeof paper with a silicone polymer coating.

The Japanese patent application published as JP 2000-037171 concerns aspice containing sheet capable of uniformly and moderately imparting aspice, such as salt or a condiment, to a food preparation. According tothis patent application, hydrocolloids, like corn starch, potato starch,rice starch or tapioca are used to adhere herbs, spices and flavouringsubstances to the sheet. The drawback of this practice is thathydrocolloids are poor transmitters of heat. They tend to get too hotand do not to melt. There is therefore a high risk of burning thepreparation, especially any herbs and spices used as garnishes, and alsothe sheet. The hydrocolloids function solely as a glue.

The applicant has now found a simple and effective way to flavour foodin readiness for cooking and to cook the food so that there is a minimumof splashing and splattering of cooking juices onto walls and othersurfaces, without burning of garnishes or any cooking materials, andwhere the addition of oil or fat by the cook for cooking the food isavoided.

The object of the invention is to provide a cooking aid that overcomes,at least in part, one or more of the above problems with known cookingmethods.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In a first aspect of the invention, there is provided a cooking aidcomprising:

-   -   a) a sheet of flexible burn resistant material;    -   b) a composition disposed on one face of the sheet, the        composition comprising a mixture of:        -   i. vegetable or animal oil with a melting point below 20°            C.;        -   ii. vegetable or animal fat with a melting point above 20°            C.; and        -   iii. one or more herbs, spices and flavour enhancers.

The sheet may be made of any material suitable for the purpose, but ispreferably a baking paper.

Preferably, the oil is selected from the group consisting of sunfloweroil, rape seed oil, cotton seed oil, peanut oil, soya oil, olive oil,palm oil, coconut oil, and palm kernel oil. The fat is preferablyselected from the group consisting of pork fat, tallow, lard, bone fats,butter, fractionated palm fat, and any fully or partially hydrogenatedor inter-esterified palm oil, cotton seed oil, peanut oil, soya oil,olive oil, sunflower oil, or rape seed oil.

In preferred embodiments of the invention, the composition comprises oilin the amount of 1 to 34% by weight and fat in the amount of 66 to 99%by weight. Preferably, the oil and fat together comprise 5 to 20% byweight of the composition. The composition may also comprise 0.01 to 1%by weight of a monoglyceride, sterol, or lecithin. The one or more herbsand spices are preferably selected from the group consisting of parsley,rosemary, pepper, and chives. The one or more herbs, spices and flavourenhancers preferably comprise 0.5 to 75% by weight of the composition.The flavour enhancers may comprise 10 to 80% by weight of thecomposition. Preferred flavour enhancers may be inorganic salts, saltsof amino acids, protein hydrolysates, flavouring preparations, and yeastextracts.

In a second aspect of the invention, there is provided a process for thepreparation of a cooking aid of the first aspect of the inventioncomprising:

-   -   a) extending the sheet of flexible burn resistant material on a        flat surface;    -   b) spreading a blend of fat and oil on the sheet; and    -   c) distributing the one or more herbs, spices and flavour        enhancers over the blend of fat and oil.

The process may also include the step of coating the one or more herbs,spices and flavour enhancers with oil, for example sunflower oil,preferably by spraying the oil.

In a further aspect, there is provided a use of a cooking aid of thefirst aspect of the invention for cooking food, where pieces of the foodare placed on the cooking aid in direct contact with the composition andare cooked. Preferably, the food is meat such as beef, lamb, chicken, orfish. Alternatively, the food may be vegetables or vegetable pieces suchas zucchinis, egg plant, tomatoes, or any other fleshy vegetablesuitable for cooking in this manner.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The invention provides a simple and effective way to cook food with aminimum of splashing and splattering of cooking juices onto walls andother surfaces and with a coating of garnishes and flavour enhancerswithout burning of garnishes or any cooking materials.

The consumer can pan fry or oven cook using a conventional baking papercoated with a mix of fat, oil, herbs, spice mixes and flavour enhancers.An important advantage is that no additional fat or oil needs to beadded to the pan or oven dish. In other words, the fat and oil used forcoating the baking paper with herbs, spice mixes and flavour enhancershave a dual purpose, i.e. to adhere the herbs, spice mixes and flavourenhancers to the paper and to provide the fat or oil needed for cooking.

Several additional benefits are provided by this invention:

-   -   the herbs and other garnishes will not burn during cooking    -   the food (especially beef, lamb, chicken, or fish meat) will        preserve its natural juiciness as loss of moisture is markedly        reduced by the sheet covering    -   excess fat in the pan or oven dish is avoided so that the        splashing of cooking juices on walls and cooking surfaces is        dramatically reduced or avoided altogether, and post-cooking        cleaning is minimised

The sheet of burn resistant flexible material may be any film, foil orlaminate, or any combination of such materials including, for example,paper, Teflon®, or susceptor materials, and even natural leaves such asbanana leaves and algae leaves. The preferred sheet material is bakingpaper, which is paper typically used commercially for baking purposes.Such paper is usually a cellulose paper coated with silicon. Althoughthis paper is more often used for oven cooking, it is suitable for usein this invention for cooking either in a pan or in an oven.

The mixture of fat and oil in the composition coating the sheet has twoimportant functions. The first is to maintain the flexibility of thesheet and ensure that the herbs and spice mixes adhere to the sheetduring handling, transportation, preparation and cooking. The second isprovide the fat or oil for cooking so that no additional fat or oilneeds to be added by the cook.

In the context of this invention, an oil is liquid at a temperature of20° C. at a pressure of 1 atm, and a fat is solid at this temperatureand pressure.

Examples of vegetable and animal oil are sunflower oil, rape seed oil,cotton seed oil, peanut oil, soya oil, olive oil, the refined ediblefractions of palm oil, coconut oil, and palm kernel oil, which may beused alone or in combination. The preferred choice is sunflower oil or arefined palm oil due to their neutral flavour and good commercialavailability.

Examples of animal and vegetable fat are butter, pork fat, tallow, lard,and bone fat, fractionated palm fat, and any fully hydrogenated,inter-esterified, hydrogenated, non-hydrogenated, fractionated oil suchas palm oil, cotton seed oil, peanut oil, soya oil, olive oil, sunfloweroil, or rape seed oil. Most preferably, the fat is a fractionated fat ora hydrogenated and inter-esterified palm oil, which has a neutralflavour, low trans-fatty acid profile and good commercial availability.

The amount of oil is preferably between 1 and 34% and the amount of fatbetween 66 and 99% by weight of the composition. Most preferably, theamount of oil is around 20% and the amount of fat around 80% by weight.The optimum oil/fat blend composition may be determined by function ofthe processing temperature and the output of the production line neededfor the manufacturing process to be economically viable.

0.01 to 1% of a monoglyceride, sterol, or lecithin may be included as astabilizer and emulsifier to control and improve product stabilityagainst temperature fluctuations after production and use in differentclimatic conditions.

The amount of fat and oil may between 5 and 20% of the total weight ofthe composition, more preferably about 15%.

The amount of herbs and spices in the composition may be between 0.5 and75% of the total weight of the composition. Preferably, the amount isbetween 10 and 20%, depending on the recipe. The herbs used aretypically parsley, rosemary, oregano, marjoram, tarragon, pepper,chives, and other similar herbs common in culinary use. The morecommonly used spices include chilies, paprika, tomato and other naturalflavour rich fruits used in culinary applications.

The amount of flavour enhancers may be between 10 and 80% of the totalweight of the composition, preferably between 60 and 70%. The flavourenhancers used are typically salts, such as sodium chloride or potassiumchloride, salts of amino acids and derivatives such as monosodiumglutamate, protein hydrolysates, ribonucleotides, natural andnon-natural flavours and flavouring preparations, yeast extracts andother preparations known as taste enhancers.

The sheet may be any size suitable for the cooking operation, and may beadapted to the local commonly used individual sizes of meat, which istypically 100 to 300 g in most countries.

The invention also relates to a process for the industrial or homepreparation of the cooking aid, which may be a continuous process in theindustrial setting, where:

-   -   the sheet is extended on a flat surface,    -   a blend of the fat and oil is spread on the sheet,    -   the herbs, spices and flavour enhancers are distributed over the        coated sheet,    -   the herbs and spices may be coated with oil, optionally        containing flavouring substances dispersed or solubilized within        the oil.

In a typical process, the sheet is extended on a flat surface and a mixof oil and fat is spread on the sheet at a temperature above the meltingpoint of the fat/oil blend. Just prior to the liquid fat/oil blendcooling below its melting temperature, a pre-mix of flavour enhancers,herbs and spice mixes is evenly applied across the surface of the sheet.The herbs and spice mixes may be coated with oil to enhance theiradherence to the sheet. Gentle pressure can be applied to the sheet toachieve close contact between the sticky fat/oil mix and any dry pre-mixcomponents. The sheet can be cut into smaller segments to fit the sizeof typical consumer meat portions.

The invention also relates to the use of the cooking aid for cookingfood in a pan or an oven. The food is preferably meat, which may bebeef, lamb, chicken, or fish, or any other meat suitable for cooking inthis way. The pieces of meat are placed on the cooking aid in directcontact with the composition and are then cooked in a pan or an oven, orany other suitable cooking device. The consumer places the meat portionon the coated surface of the sheet. The sheet can be folded over tocover most or substantially all of the portion. The covered meat isplaced on or in a cooking device, such as a pre-heated pan at mediumheat or preheated conventional oven (between 70 and 220° C.). Thecooking process is normally carried out during 5 to 7 minutes on eachside, depending on the type and cut of meat. The food is ready to serveby removing the sheet.

Vegetables may also be cooked using the cooking aid of this invention.Examples include zucchinis and egg plant (aubergine). Any protein/starchfood matrix having a water activity less than 0.7 may be suitable, forexample, tofu and cheese.

One product possibility is a package comprising 4 units of sheet. Thesize of each sheet may depend on the size of the meat portions and willnormally be in the range 15 to 20 cm. Each sheet will typically have 5to 8 g total weight of fat/oil, herbs, spices and flavours.

EXAMPLES

The invention is further described with reference to the followingexamples. It is to be appreciated that the examples do not in any waylimit the invention.

Example 1 General Method

The cook takes a portion of food and places it on the cooking aid. Thefood portion is covered on both sides with the sheet or loosely wrappedin the sheet. The cooking aid containing the food portion is placed on apre-heated pan and cooked for the required time period, and on each sideif appropriate, at moderate temperature. Low temperature cooking avoidsfast protein degradation and improves palatability, taste perception andnatural bite. The food portion is ready to serve by removing from thesheet. The ingredients of the composition give flavour to the cookedfood, and the sheet protects the food from drying out ensuring naturaljuiciness. Flavours are better perceived due natural preserved juicinessand palatability is enhanced.

The basic method for cooking meat comprises the following steps:

-   -   1. Place a clean pan on the heating station (e.g. induction,        electric or gas hob) at, for example, 50% of the maximum heating        capacity. No need to add oil or fat.    -   2. Open the cooking aid sheet.    -   3. Place the meat on the open sheet and fold or wrap the sheet        around the meat.    -   4. Place the wrapped sheet on the pre-heated pan.    -   5. Cook for several minutes each side.    -   6. Remove from the pan.    -   7. Discard the sheet before eating.

Example 2 Recipes

The recipes below may be used for cooking beef or chicken, or any othersuitable meat or food, depending on consumer preference.

Amount Recipe Component (%) provencale fractionated palm fat/sunfloweroil 25 flavours & flavour enhancers 68 (including cultured wheat gluten,NaCl) herbs & spices (oregano, basil, 7 tomato granules, thyme, blackpepper, marjoram) garlic fractionated palm fat/sunflower oil 25 flavours& flavour enhancers 60 (including cultured wheat gluten, NaCl) herbs &spices (garlic powder, 15 onion powder, dehydrated garlic pieces,parsley) tomato fractionated palm fat/sunflower oil 25 flavours &flavour enhancers 57 (including cultured wheat gluten, NaCl) herbs &spices (tomato pieces, 18 marjoram, oregano, parsley) paprikafractionated palm fat/sunflower oil 25 flavours & flavour enhancers 65(including cultured wheat gluten, NaCl) herbs & spices (bell pepper 10powder & pieces, parsley)

It is to be appreciated that although the invention has been describedwith reference to specific embodiments, variations and modifications maybe made without departing from the scope of the invention as defined inthe claims. Furthermore, where known equivalents exist to specificfeatures, such equivalents are incorporated as if specifically referredto in this specification.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A cooking aid comprising: a sheet offlexible burn resistant material; and a composition comprising: a firstblend disposed on one face of the sheet, the first blend comprising: afirst oil having a melting point below 20° C., the first oil beingselected from the group consisting of a vegetable oil, an animal oil,and combinations thereof; and vegetable or animal fat having a meltingpoint above 20° C., the vegetable or animal fat selected from the groupconsisting of fractionated palm fat, fractionated fat, and a combinationthereof; a second blend disposed on the first blend, the second blendcomprising one or more herbs, spices, or flavor enhancers; and a coatingdisposed on the second blend, the coating comprising a coating of asecond oil on the one or more herbs, spices, or flavor enhancers, thesecond oil being selected from the group consisting of a vegetable oil,an animal oil, and combinations thereof, and the second oil having amelting point below 20° C.
 2. The cooking aid of claim 1, wherein thesheet is baking paper.
 3. The cooking aid of claim 1, wherein the firstand second oils are selected from the group consisting of sunflower oil,rape seed oil, cotton seed oil, peanut oil, soya oil, olive oil, palmoil, coconut oil, and palm kernel oil.
 4. The cooking aid of claim 1,wherein the fat is selected from the group consisting of pork fat,tallow, lard, bone fats, butter, fractionated palm fat, and any fully orpartially hydrogenated or inter-esterified palm oil, cotton seed oil,peanut oil, soya oil, olive oil, sunflower oil, and rape seed oil. 5.The cooking aid of claim 1, wherein the composition comprises the firstoil in the amount of about 20% by weight of the first blend and the fatin the amount of about 80% by weight of the first blend.
 6. The cookingaid of claim 1, wherein the composition comprises 0.01 to 1% by weightof the composition an ingredient selected from the group consisting ofmonoglyceride, sterol, and lecithin.
 7. The cooking aid of claim 1,wherein the first oil and fat together comprise 5 to 20% by weight ofthe composition.
 8. The cooking aid of claim 1, wherein the one or moreherbs, spices and flavor enhancers comprise 0.5 to 75% by weight of thecomposition.
 9. The cooking aid of claim 1, wherein the one or moreherbs and spices are selected from the group consisting of parsley,rosemary, pepper, and chives.
 10. The cooking aid of claim 1, whereinthe flavor enhancers comprise 10 to 80% by weight of the composition.11. The cooking aid of claim 1, wherein the one or more flavor enhancersare selected from the group consisting of inorganic salts, salts ofamino acids, protein hydrolysates, flavoring preparations, and yeastextracts.
 12. The cooking aid of claim 1, wherein the first and secondoils are the same type of oil.
 13. The cooking aid of claim 12, whereinthe first and second oils are both sunflower oil.
 14. A process for thepreparation of a cooking aid, the process comprising: extending a sheetof flexible burn resistant material on a flat surface; and applying acomposition comprising a first blend, a second blend, and a coating onone face of the sheet, comprising: spreading the first blend on thesheet, the first blend being a blend of fat and a first oil, the firstoil having a melting point below 20° C., and the fat having a meltingpoint above 20° C., the fat selected from the group consisting offractionated palm fat, fractionated fat, and a combination thereof;distributing the second blend over the first blend, the second blendcomprising one or more herbs, spices, or flavor enhancers; and coatingthe one or more herbs, spices or flavor enhancers with the coatingcomprising a second oil, and the second oil having a melting point below20° C.
 15. The process of claim 14, wherein the sheet is baking paper.16. The process of claim 14, wherein the first and second oils areselected from the group consisting of sunflower oil, rape seed oil,cotton seed oil, peanut oil, soya oil, olive oil, palm oil, coconut oil,and palm kernel oil.
 17. The process of claim 14, wherein the fat isselected from the group consisting of pork fat, tallow, lard, bone fats,butter, fractionated palm fat, and any fully or partially hydrogenatedor inter-esterified palm oil, cotton seed oil, peanut oil, soya oil,olive oil, sunflower oil, and rape seed oil.
 18. The process of claim14, wherein the composition comprises the first oil in the amount ofabout 20% by weight of the first blend and the fat in the amount ofabout 80% by weight of the first blend.
 19. The process of claim 14,wherein the composition comprises 0.01 to 1% by weight of thecomposition an ingredient selected from the group consisting ofmonoglyceride, sterol, and lecithin.
 20. The process of claim 14,wherein the first oil and fat together comprise 5 to 20% by weight ofthe composition.
 21. The process of claim 14, wherein the one or moreherbs, spices and flavor enhancers comprise 0.5 to 75% by weight of thecomposition.
 22. The process of claim 14, wherein the one or more herbsand spices are selected from the group consisting of parsley, rosemary,pepper, and chives.
 23. The process of claim 14, wherein the flavorenhancers comprise 10 to 80% by weight of the composition.
 24. Theprocess of claim 14, wherein the one or more flavor enhancers areselected from the group consisting of inorganic salts, salts of aminoacids, protein hydrolysates, flavoring preparations, and yeast extracts.25. The cooking aid of claim 14, wherein the first and second oils arethe same type of oil.
 26. The process of claim 25, wherein the first andsecond oils are both sunflower oil.